Method and device for managing mobile telephone messages

ABSTRACT

Mobile radio communication messages transmitted by a message service to a terminal are linked to reference information items and tested in the terminal according to validity criteria. The messages are only stored in a non-volatile memory when they are valid; and they are not stored when they are invalid, and/or they are erased from the nonvolatile memory after having been previously stored when they are later determined to be invalid.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and a device for managingmobile radio communication messages.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Smart cards are used as subscriber identity modules (SIM) in mobileequipment. In addition to identifying and authorizing the networksubscriber, the smart-card module assumes, inter alia, the role of aportable data storage unit for, e.g. call numbers or short messages inthe form of text. These short messages are transmitted by the so-calledShort Message Service (SMS) and may include up to 160 characters.

As an alternative, the short messages may also be stored in theterminal, but then the advantage of using them in different terminalstogether with the smart card module is lost.

Since the non-volatile storage space on the smart card module is limited(<16 . . . 32 kByte) and various other data and functions are stored inthis memory, the number of short messages that may be saved in thissmart card module is limited. It normally lies in the range ofapproximately 10 to 20. In contrast to the smart card module, there isindeed no technology-dependent upper limits for the size of the memoryof the terminal, but even in this case, the economical configuration ofthe resources of the terminal will lead to limiting the amount of memoryfor the short messages. In both the smart card module and the terminal,the user has to manually delete the short messages no longer needed whenthe memory is completely full. A time-consuming sequence of operationsis usually required to accomplish this.

Value-added services such as traffic and travel information or mobilebanking (account statement) have been offered for some time, inparticular by SMS. In connection with such services, the number of shortmessages received will markedly increase in the future and thereforerequire increased action on the part of the user to delete shortmessages.

Since no action by the user is necessary for receiving a short message,the memory may also be filled without the user initially noticing it. Inaddition, the user may miss perfectly desirable short messages, since noadditional message may be received when the memory is completely full.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention may allow the messages stored in the terminal orsmart card module to be managed in an automated manner, and thussubstantially relieves the user of the manual management. Since messagesthat do not satisfy the predefined validity criteria are deleted or notstored in the first place, the unchecked total occupation of thenonvolatile memory is prevented, which means that the user does not missany newly received messages due to a full memory. The deletion ofmessages may also be used to obtain a better overall view of themessages to be looked at.

In addition, the management of the messages may also include sortingthem, which means that the messages may also be saved and/or displayedaccording to sorting criteria, e.g. according to priority, andtherefore, they become easier for the user to monitor. The mostimportant or most recent message may be displayed at the top position inthe display field.

Temporal information, spatial information, and information about thesource, the content, or the importance of the message may be used asreference information, and as validity criteria and/or sorting criteria.This may allow the messages to be managed in a highly intelligent anduser-friendly manner, which may also be adapted to personal wishes andthen renders subsequent, manual intervention in the management largelyunnecessary.

Thus, there may be general and personal priorities for managing themessages. For example, the importance may belong to the generalpriorities for traffic information. Emergency messages such as “Danger,person driving in the wrong direction” have a higher priority thanwarning messages such as “Fog formation”. The personal priorities may bemade up of the personal preferences of the user. Thus, sports reportsmay be more important to one user than stock exchange reports, while thereverse is true for another user.

The messages in the terminal may be managed by the terminal itself, bythe smart card module, or even in a remote-controlled manner, via themobile radio network. The latter alternative particularly presentsitself to general priorities. Thus, the priority of traffic information,e.g. during major events, may be increased in this region.

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is represented in thedrawings and explained in the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a mobile radio communicationterminal having functional blocks.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the management.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a mobile radio communication terminal 2, which is inscribedin a mobile radio communication network 1 and receives a short message4. A smart card module 3, which contains a nonvolatile memory 6, isplugged into a mount fixture of mobile radio communication terminal 2.This nonvolatile memory 6 is suitable for storing short messages.

In the exemplary embodiment, short message 4 is not generally stored innonvolatile memory 6, but only after passing a test of its validity. Inorder to render this test, a reference information item 5 is transmittedas a part of the short message, or as an addition to it. A processingmodule 7 interprets and tests this reference information 5, using avalidity criterion. If the validity criterion is satisfied, then theshort message 4 including reference information item 5 is stored innonvolatile memory 6. It may also be provided that short messages 4previously stored are examined in intervals or in response to theoccurrence of events. If the validity criterion is then not satisfied,then the short message 4 in question is automatically removed fromnonvolatile memory 6.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of the management. A time requirement or theoccurrence of an event gives rise to a test trigger 8, which triggers avalidity test 9 of the received or stored short message. In this case, areference information item 11, which is a part of the short message, iscompared to a validity criterion 12. If validity criterion 12 issatisfied, then the short message is valid, is stored, and is laterreexamined when test trigger 8 is activated. If the validity criterion12 is not fulfilled, then the short message is invalid and is not storedor, if previously stored, erased from memory 10. In addition to avalidity criterion 12, a sorting criterion, which controls theallocation to memory locations or to positions on a display field, mayalso be provided.

The validity/sorting criterion may be a temporal reference, e.g. timeframe or limit, a spatial reference, e.g. a prefix plus area code ormobile radio cell, or the presence or absence of other short messages inthe memory.

The temporal reference may be linked to a temporal reference informationitem in the short message, or to the receiving time of the shortmessages, e.g. “automatically delete all short messages that are morethan one week old”.

The spatial reference may be a cell or a list of cells. To this end, thesmart card module may extract from the terminal the information as towhich cell the terminal is situated in. However, the spatial referencemay also be a prefix plus area code of the corresponding fixed networkregion, e.g. 05121 for Hildesheim, a list of area codes, or a group ofarea codes (e.g. 05* for all area codes that begin with 05). Otherinformation such as cities, regions, e.g. Harz or Weserbergland, orstates, is also conceivable by performing the appropriate conversion inthe terminal or smart card module, but is more complicated.

The test of the criteria may also be triggered as a function of time,e.g. “every two hours”, spatially triggered, e.g. “during each change ofcells”, triggered by events, e.g. “when the memory is full and a newshort message is received”, or triggered by combination of these. Anautomated validity test of all short messages by an action of the user,e.g. “delete all short messages that are invalid”, is conceivable.

The validity test/sorting may take place directly in the unit, namelythe terminal or the smart card module, in which the short messages arestored. However, it may also be performed by the terminal for the smartcard module, or by the smart card module for the terminal. It is alsoconceivable for the validity test, i.e. the selective deletion of agroup of short messages, to be triggered via the mobile radio network.

1. A method for managing at least one mobile radio communication messagetransmitted to a terminal and linked to at least one referenceinformation item, the method comprising: testing the at least one mobileradio communication message in the terminal according to a validitycriteria; storing the at least one mobile radio communication message ina non-volatile memory if the at least one mobile radio communication isvalid, but not if it is invalid; erasing a previously stored mobileradio communication message from the nonvolatile memory when it is laterdetermined to be invalid; and according to sorting criteria, performingat least one of: assigning the at least one mobile radio communicationmessage to a memory location in the nonvolatile memory; deleting the atleast one mobile radio communication message from the memory location inthe nonvolatile memory; assigning the at least one mobile radiocommunication message to a position in a display field of the terminal;and deleting the at least one mobile radio communication message fromthe position in the display field of the terminal; wherein: the at leastone reference information item includes at least one of temporalinformation, spatial information, content information about the at leastone mobile radio communication message, and information about a degreeof importance; at least one of the validity criteria and the sortingcriteria includes at least one of a temporal criterion, a spatialcriterion, a source criterion, a content criterion and an importancecriterion; the temporal information includes one of a generation time, asending time, a receiving time, an independently specifiable time, andan independently specifiable time frame; the spatial informationincludes one of state information, region information, locationinformation, origin information of the at least one mobile radiocommunication message, and source information of the at least one mobileradio communication message; the temporal criterion includes one of atime frame and a time limit; the spatial criterion includes one of stateinformation, region information, location information, and in a form ofuncoded text, a contraction, an area code, or an identifier of a cell;the source criterion includes one of a name, an address and a telephonenumber; and the content criterion includes one of a presence and anabsence of one of at least one specifiable character, at least onenumerical sequence, and at least one word.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the at least one mobile radio communication message includes ashort message.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the testing accordingto the validity criteria is at least one of triggered as a function oftime, by at least one event, and by remote-control via a mobile radionetwork.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the terminaland a smart card module performs the testing according to the validitycriteria.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the storing is done in atleast one of a nonvolatile memory arranged in the terminal and anonvolatile memory arranged in a smart card module.